Which Alcohol Goes Best With Apple Cider? 10 Ways To Spike This Wintertime Favorite

If you ask me, apple cider reigns king as the beverage for the fall and winter seasons. Hot or cold, it’s more satisfying than apple juice, and delicious when made into apple cider doughnuts. What’s also delicious is spiked apple cider, obviously — but which alcohol goes best with apple cider?

When cold weather arrives, hot chocolate, eggnog, and spiced tea get all the love. Sometimes though, you need an alcoholic beverage — if only to get you through the holidays. Most holiday beverages can easily be spiked with spirits and liquors. People forget, though, that one of the best winter drinks is apple cider, which is made even better with the likes of bourbon, rum, and tequila, to name a few.

Here’s what apple cider isn’t: apple juice, or hard cider. There isn’t a defined legal standard on the difference between apple cider and apple juice, which is why many brands use the names interchangeably for marketing purposes. To be clear, fresh apple cider is usually raw apple juice that hasn’t gone through a filtration system to remove the pulp and other sediment from the apple. Apple cider can be unpasteurized, unlike apple juice, which is typically pasteurized to prevent fermentation and to prevent spoilage. Hard apple cider is a fermented alcoholic beverage.

Below are 10 of the best alcohols to pair with your favorite childhood winter beverage. It's time to get cozy.

8. Bourbon

A Cozy Kitchen

Traditional hot toddies, made with water, lemon, honey, and bourbon, were once thought to help cure cold and flu symptoms. Add apple cider, and you have the perfect antidote for all your winter blues. Try this gingery-appley hot toddy recipe from A Cozy Kitchen.

10. Moonshine

The Little Epicurean

Hooch, white lightening — Moonshine has taken a list of names throughout the years to protect its brewers. The history of moonshine is extensive, and today, brewers are reviving the once illicit spirit. Serve this apple pie moonshine cocktail from The Little Epicurean with a history lesson.